2025 Jubilarian Celebrating 50 Years
What a grace to be a Missionary Servant of the Most Blessed Trinity! Throughout her fifty years of religious life, Joan has encountered the Lord in ways that have enriched her and produced in her an ever stronger desire to serve. Today, she celebrates the stirring that attracted her fifty years ago, which, by now, sets her heart on fire with Love of God and His People.
Joan Packer was one of nine children and belonged to a close-knit, faith-filled family who made sure she was numbered among the members of the Family of God. She was baptized and received her First Communion in St. Mary’s Parish in Dedham, MA where she was born and raised. She was later confirmed at St. Susana’s Parish, a parish well-known for its faith formation and works of charity. There she participated in the CYO and served in a variety of ministries.
Upon graduation from high school, Joan worked at an insurance company, while exploring the mystery of God’s work within her. On September 21, 1975, after much discernment, she entered the Missionary Servants of the Most Blessed Trinity, an apostolic religious community of woman that supported her strong desire to “be good, do good, and be a power for good!.”
Joan took on the identity of the Lord Jesus in Novitiate, and was given the name of Sr. Joan Louise Packer of the Suffering Christ. The love of the Suffering Christ impelled her to turn her life over to Him who loved her beyond measure. After her first assignment at Holy Trinity, AL, God led her to ministry relating to the transition of the congregation from a school at Kiln, Mississippi, her coaching and team work as a Physical Ed teacher in Phenix City, AL, her engaging in direct aid services at Catholic Social Services in Montgomery, Mobile, and Robertsville, AL- all while attending college. Joan was missioned to be a facility manager and food service co-ordinatior at Trinita for sixteen years, and then missioned to the Motherhouse, where she serves the needs of her senior sisters with great love, respect, and compassion.
Today, Joan celebrates her fiftieth year as a Missionary Servant. She gives honor and praise to the Triune God for calling her to this great experience of ‘servant privilege’; she recognizes that her vocation is a blessing and gift from God. For Joan there is no greater joy or grace than to be to be a Missionary Servant of the Most Blessed Trinity. Today, with a thankful heart, she “proclaims the greatness of the Lord and her spirit rejoices in God her Savior!”